Safety wrench



Feb. 3, 1925. 1,525,213

A. L. TIETZE SAFETY WRENCH Filed July 25, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l Z Z 42;/l

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ATTORNEYS Feb. 3, 1925,. 1,525,213

A. L. TIETZE SAFETY WRENCH Filed July 23, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Y Mt, wf

ATTORN EYS res. s, 1925.

PATENT Mannen* L. rin'rzn, or HUNTINofron nnAcn, oAnIronNiA, -AssrenonTo STANDARD ein. com, or SAN cisco, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION orCALIFORNIA.

SAFETY" WRENCH.

Application mea muy esta., 1924. seran No. 727,642.

To @ZZ whom-,t concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT L. Trnrzn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Huntington Beach, in the county of Grange e and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safe-lty' Wrenches, of which the following is a specification.

ll/y invention relates lto safety wrenches il@ of a type especiallyadapted 'for screwing up or unscrewing the joints in the sucker rods 'ofdeep well pumps and for other like uses.

In screwing up and unscrewing the sucker rods of a well pump, especiallyin a deep well, the upper end of the string of rods, when the wrench isapplied, will often twist several complete turns, on account of 'thegreat length of the string, before the lower end is effectively moved,thereby setting up 2*@ a torsional .strain in the string. If any of theordinary forms of wrenches are used, e and the handle of such a wrenchslips out of the'operators grasp, the torsional strain in the string ofrods will cause its upper end to untwist, with great rapidity, therebywhirling the wrench around an usually, throwing it violently 0E the rod.Such an accident is extremely hazardous, as the operator or any otherperson in the immediate ing wrench, or, even if the wrench remains onthe rod, .its rapidly whirling handle is a source of great danger. A

The object of lmy present invention isto provide av wrench, by the useof which the above described hazards are eliminated. I accomplish this.object bg providing means for retaining the wrenc u rod, so that itcannot be t rown ol; by providing a wrench of such form that several mencan conveniently grasp it at the same time, thereby lessening theprobability of losing control of the wrench; and by providing a wrenchof suchform that, it is not a source of danger, even if it is rapidlywhirled by the untwisting of the sucker rod string. V

Although my invention is described as particularly adapted for workingupon the sucker rods o1? well pps, it is obviously rim gate.

vicinity, may be severely injured by the flyon the sucker applicable foruse upon any rods, springs, or other parts wherein there may be dangerfrom reactive forces or back-lash .arising from torsional strain.Moreover it should be understood that the form and construction of thedevice herein described and illustrated may be Varied, within the limitsof the yclaims hereto appended, without departing from the essentialprinciples of the invention as expressed in said claims.

With this in view, myy invention will .now be fully described withreference tothe accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. l is a plan view ofa preferred form of my safety wrench, showing its use in combinationwith an ordinary pipe wrench as the gripping member.

Fig. 2 -is a transverse section of the same.

Fig. 3 is a broken plan view, showing my safety wrench without anyassociated gripping member.

'Fig 4 is a sectional detail of the preferred form of rim gate shown inFig. 1.

Fig. 5 isa detail of a modified form of Fig. 6 is a broken plan viewshowing anl ordinary monkey-wrench associated as the gripping memberwith my safety wrench. v i

Fig. 7 is a broken plan view showing an ordinary open-end wrenchassociated as the gripping member with my safety wrench.

In the drawings, the referencel numeral 1 designates a circular orsubstantially circular rim having spokes 2 and 2 converging toward acentral'hub 3. In practice I prefer to construct the rim land the s okes2 of ordinary iron pipe, said spokes ein welded to said rim and to aHarige 3 weld o-r otherwise permanently secured to the hub 3. The spokes2 are preferably formed of solid dat stock for apurpose to be later setforth. The hub 3 is preferably formed of a fiat late of iron or steel,and is pro-I vided wit a suitably shaped central aperture 4. which mayserve as a gripping aperture or jaw to en age a nut or other ob ject,not shown, to e turned.

For the sake of convenience, l' prefer to provide the hub 3 with a slot5 :referia me from its:rim to the jaw aperture 4, and, said .slot shouldpreferably be made torvtuous, as shown, to prevent the nut orother dle9. As an alternative form of gate 'for closing the rim gap 6, li haveshown in Fig. 5 a swinging gate 7, closed by a spring 8', and heldlclosed by a latch 9.l The hub slot 5 may also be provided with anysuitable form of closure, such for example as a gate 10, Fig. 6, held inposition by any suitable means, such as removable pins indicated at 10.

' My device, as described above, may be used as a wrench if desired, theaperture 4 engaging the object to be turned, or, when the object is ofsuch a size or iorm that it cannot be so engaged, the device may be usedin combination with a suitable gripping member, which may be anyordinary 'form of wrench. For example, in Figs. 1 and 2 l have shownlthe device associated with a well known form of pipe wrench, as usedupon sucker rods. For the purposes of such association, one of the iiatspokes 2 is provided with holes or slots'l, through which bolts 12 arepassed, said bolts also passing through the handle 13 of the pipe wrench14, and thereby firmly holding said pipe wrench in position with itsjaws in functional alignmentwith the aperture 4.' A second aperture 15,Fig. 3, may be formed in the hub plate 3to ermit convenient manipulationof the adjusting nut 16, Figs. 1 and 2 of the pipe wrench.

it should be understood that other means may be used for holding theywrench handle 13 in position, and that other forms of Wrenches may beused as gripping members in association with my dev1ce. For example, 1have shown in Fig. 6 a common monkey-wrench 14', Whose handle 13 issecured to the spoke 2 by clamps 12, and as another example, 1` haveshown in Fig. 7 a well known form ot open-end wrench 14, whose handle 13is secured to the spoke 2 by the bolts 12 as in the case of the pipewrench 14 shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

In the use of my device, either by itself or in combination with somewell known form of wrench as a gripping member, the openings 5 and 6, inthe hub and rim respectively, permit the ready positioning of the deviceupon the work; and this is especially true in working upon` sucker rods,when the u per end of the lstring is supported from a ve by the hoistingor other means, and the lower end extends into the well. Theclrcumferential rim or handle 1 enables a number of workmen to grasp itconveniently at the same time, and, even if it should slip out of theirgrasp, and be whirled4 around lrapidly by the torsional strain in thesuckerrod string, no danger would result therefrom; the device couldnotbe thrown oi the rods because of the tortuous slot 5 and the gates 7and 10; and the substantially circular form of the rim 1, withoutprojecting handles or other parts, would prevent injury to adjacentpersons.

I claim:

1. A safety wrench comprising a circumferential rim member having a gapformed therein; and a hub member positioned within said rim member andconnected therewith, said hub member having a gripping aperture and atortuous slot extending' from said aperture to its outer edge.

2. A safety wrench comprising a circumferential rim member having a gapformed therein; a hub member positioned ,within said rim member andconnected therewith, said hub member having a gripping aperture formedtherein and a tortuous slot extending from said aperture to its outeredge; and a movable gate adapted to close said slot. j

3. -A safety wrench comprising a circumferential rim member having a gapformed therein; a movable gate adapted to close said gap; and a hubmember positioned within said rim member and connected' therewith, saidhub member having a gripping aperture and a slot extending from saidaperture to its outer edge; and a gate for closing said slot.

4. A safety wrench comprising a circumferential rim member having a gapformed therein; a slidable bolt associated with said rim member forclosing said gap; and a hub member positioned within said rim member andconnected therewith, said hub member having a gripping aperture and aslot extending from said aperture to its outer edge; and a gate forclosing said slot.

5. A safety wrench comprising a circumerential rim member having ahollow por tion and a gap formed in said hollow portion; a bolt slidablycarried in said hollow portion and adapted to close said gap; and a hubmember positioned within said rim member and connected therewith,said'hub member having a gripping Iaperture and a slot extending fromsaid aperture tp its outer edge; and a gate for closing'saidl slot.

6. A safety wrench comprising a circum- `ferential rim member having agate-con trolled gap; a hub member positioned within said rim member andconnected therewith, said hubv member having a gripping a ture with agate-controlled entrance s ot; and supplementary gripping `jawsassociated with and positioned in functional alignment with saidgripping aperture.

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7. A safety Wrench comprising a circumslot; and supplementary grippingjaws referential rim member having a gate-conmovably associated with andpositioned in trolled gap; a hub member positioned withfunction-a1alignment with said gripping 10 in said rim member und connectedthereaperture.

5 with, said hub member having a gripping In testimony whereof I havesigned my aperture with a tortuous entrance slot exname t0 thisspecification. tending therefrom; a gate forclosing said ALBERT L.TIETZE.

